October 28, 2022

 Announcements

You will find a yellow form in the Friday Folder with the date/time of your conference. Please let me know as soon as possible if this does not work and we need to reschedule. It is a Paxton expectation that I have 100% attended conferences. Thank you in advance for helping me reach this goal!

The optional October reading logs are due on Monday. The November log is in the Friday folder.

There will be no November book order because of the school book fair happening conference week. Make sure to stop by to pick up some great books and support Paxton!

This week has been Media Literacy week! We have done a different activity each day to promote media awareness. If you are interested in learning more about discussing this topic with your 3rd grader, check out this guide.

We had a great Fall Party! 

In the Classroom

We wrapped up our Life Cycle unit last week by studying the chicks! They hatched earlier than anticipated, so we were able to have them in our room for the whole week. 

This week, we went back to Ecosystems. We did a Mystery Science that involved digging for fossils to see how an ecosystem may have changed over time. 

We also learned how people, nature, and animals can change ecosystems. Next week, we will study Heredity. 

In reading this week, we read about King Midas. We used this myth to practice inferring, identifying plot elements, and comparing/contrasting. In writing, students are analyzing opinion pieces. We learned how to state your opinion, organize your reasons, and support with evidence from the text. 

We finished Unit 2 this week in math! I will keep these tests to share at our conference. This unit concluded with division work where students learned how to use arrays to divide with and without a remainder.

Upcoming Events

Picture Retakes-November 3

No School, Teacher Workdays-November 7-8

Conference Week-November 14-17

Field Trip to Missouri Theater-November 17

No School-November 18

Thanksgiving Break-November 23-25

October 14, 2022

Announcements

Conference time is next month! The blue form is in the Friday folder (unless your conference is being pre-scheduled through another teacher.) This year, we are offering conferences Wednesday, November 16th and Thursday, November 17th from 3:45-7:45. If you need a different day/time, please let me know and I will try my best to accommodate you. However, if you need past 4:30 in the afternoon, please choose one of the given days. If you would like your 3rd grader and their siblings' conferences to be back-to-back, please choose the same day/time on both blue conference forms. 

It is hard to believe our Fall Party is just around the corner! The party is from 2:15-3:00 on Friday, October 28th. If you would like to help out, please use the sign up below. 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0e4ca9ad23a1fd0-fall1

The annual Paxton Keeley Food Drive begins next week. Our class set a class goal of 92 items. You can also send money, as each dollar equals 4 food items. Please see the flyer in the Friday folder for more information.

This week, we took our first field trip to the Rock Bridge Planetarium! 

On Friday, we spent time doing a Makerspace activity with Mrs. Canepa. The students loved creating things out of cardboard using the Makeydo tools!

In the Classroom

We started our Ecosystems unit last week for Science. Students learned about what an ecosystem is, and we went outside to search for living/non-living things. 

This week, we switched gears to discuss Life Cycles. This is because we have some "friends" in our room for two weeks. Our chick eggs got delivered on Tuesday. They will stay in their warm incubator and hopefully start hatching Monday or Tuesday. Throughout this time, students will learn about the chick life cycle, as well that of other organisms. Be on the lookout for a special blog update next week when we will have pictures of our furry class pets!

In reading this week, we started our 2nd unit. Our focus is on how characters' actions affect the story. We started reading fables and practiced our inferencing skills. 

I am so proud of the students for completing their first writing cycle last week! Every student was able to take notes on a topic, organize their notes, create a first draft of an essay, and revise/edit their work. On Friday, we celebrated their hard work by reading each other's pieces and giving positive feedback. I will have their essays for you at their conference.

In math, we have been focusing on word stories. Students learned how to solve both 1 and 2 step problems. We also used arrays to help us solve equal groups problems.

Upcoming Events

Comet Carnival-October 14

Flu Shot-October 27

Fall Room Parties-October 28